Today I went to Moundou with the Administrator and his wife and another guy Enoch from the hospital and Frederick. Frederick was there to help me get some papers for my scooter. We all had several things that needed to be done. A trip like this is only done once in a while and so you grab the opportunity when it arises.
Well after our busy day in the market getting this done and that done, I was ready to go home. I had a headache from the stress of the whole day and not eating or drinking much at all. I have been here for 10 months and have not used a squat pot yet and I didn't want to start today. We were on our way home and I was already to put my head back and rest my eyes. All of a sudden the truck came to a complete stop. I opened my eyes and looked around. I looked at Frederick that interprets everything for me hoping he had an answer for me. "What are we doing"? They decided to stop to get something to eat before we head home. I instantly looked over at the building that appeared to be the restaurant that I was going to be expected to eat at. I started to scream inside. No!!! As my feet were following the crowd my head was screaming and praying to God to help me with this experience. I don't want to eat here. I will get sick without a doubt in the world. As I got closer I was thinking what am I going to do? There was a buzzing noise that was indescribable. I had no idea what it was, that is until I sat down and began to fight all the flies. I am still screaming inside. I look at my surroundings and the tables have not been washed for a while and there is left over's from someone before us. But then I was thinking that maybe it is some sort of spice in a bowl and you are suppose to use but it was clear that it had been used before but all the other tables had it. I look at the ground and it is sand of course but it looks so dark, it is all the flies that are making the ground look like that and making it appear as though it is moving. Everyone else at my table is sitting calmly and talking and laughing. Then everyone gets up as though we are leaving. I had a hint of hope rise up inside of me but the group is just going to wash their hands. We are outside of course and there is a very short wall that is dividing us from the main road with all the people walking and driving by. We are now getting ready to wash our hands with the upside down gas tank on a stand that is full of water and has a spout. The water is dripping into a huge bucket of really dirty and stinky water. I am following the crowd and washing my hands from all the umpteen people's hands I shook up to this point in the day. I go and sit down with wet and kind of clean hands. I know I am going to be expected to eat with my hands and I did all I could to get them clean. I look at Frederick who is sitting across from me. I asked him what they have to eat here. I saw some blenders and thought I was going to get lucky and have some kind of mango banana shake but no they don't have anything like that they only have meat. Ok there is my out I will just say that I don't want to eat meat. I don't eat meat and I am afraid it would make me sick. Everyone else has shouted their order out to a man that is sitting about 10 feet away. I still don't know what I am getting. Frederick suggests I start with a drink that is in a glass bottle and tastes like orange. So that is what I do, I order a drink. By this time everyone else's order has come to the table. I look over and it is a slab of some part of a chicken and a chunky brown sauce all around it with a 24 inch stick of bread. I look at Frederick and he has begun eating after his blessing. I watch him as he is fighting trying to keep the flies off of his hands and food. He must have been fighting with 15-20 flies. Everyone is enjoying their food. I feel so out of place. I asked if I could just get the bread. One was brought out right away and I begin to eat it. Now I am fighting with the flies. I keep the metal top on my drink to keep the flies from landing on the ring of my drink. I look behind me at the container holding water and there are a couple guys cleaning themselves up after their meal. They are putting the water all over their faces and drinking it and spitting some out, did I mention this is going on about 5 feet from me? What a different culture. I thought my culture shock was over but I guess I was wrong! I have seen so many things here that until you actually experience it you just can't describe what it feels like to be in the middle of something like this. I am thinking about my earlier encounter in the market of a man pushing a cart on two wheels and in the cart was a pile of slabs of some sort of meat just bouncing around on this cart in the dust with all the bugs. I was horrified and thought to myself I will never eat meat. I felt as though God did help me through this experience that was really hard for me. No one made any kind of deal out of what I got to eat and I didn't get sick. The bill was paid and we are on our way out and I look to the ground and notice something on the ground that I need to make sure I don't step on and it appears to be intestines from something.
Just another experience in Africa.
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